Dominican Republic

Caribbean cool

This little island is a firm holiday favourite – and for good reason. Beyond the amazing beaches, it lines up rainforest-cloaked mountains, lively towns, and locals with that laid-back approach that’s textbook Caribbean.

Puerto Plata

Up on the north coast you’ve got lively Puerto Plata town, with its pretty old quarter and seafront fortress. For beaches backed by emerald hills there’s Playa Dorada or Costa Dorada. And a little further up the coast there are the palm-lined beaches of Bahia Maimon.

Punta Cana

On the eastern tip of the island is Punta Cana, whose resorts skirt a 50-kilometre ribbon of white sand. Golfers can tee off at the Punta Cana Golf Club, where the greens come complete with sea views. Bavaro is the liveliest resort, while sleepy Uvero Alto sits at the opposite end of the spectrum.

La Romana

On the south coast, La Romana’s got long sweeps of sand, pastel-painted fishermen’s huts and a sprinkling of luxe hotels in the resort of Bayahibe.

Samana

Then you’ve got the Samana peninsula. It’s all half-empty beaches and emerald countryside here, with go-slow towns like Cayo Levantado and Las Terrenas.

Made up of around 30 resorts dotted over hundreds of square miles, Punta Cana is where the A-listers like to lounge. The Clintons, Beyonce and Brangelina have all been papped here, and it’s easy to see why. The 50-kilometre coastline is a thick stripe of white sand fringed by giant coconut trees. Plus, beyond the beaches, you’ll find golf courses, tropical countryside and a sprinkling of colonial cities.

Bookended by San Juan and Bahia Maimon, the Dominican Republic’s north coast packs a lot in. The tick-list in lively Puerto Plata town, for example, covers everything from a rum factory to a seafront fortress. The pretty old quarter is worth a wander, too. But Puerto Plata’s crowning glory has to be the cable car – it climbs a giddy 800 metres to the top of Mount Isabel del Torres.

Tucked away in the south-east corner of the Dominican Republic, La Romana is beach central. The sandy swathes in this neck of the woods stretch along the coastline from La Romana City all the way to Bayahibe, and the locals reckon they’re the best-looking in the country. Playa La Minatas, for example, is a Photoshop-perfect stretch where jetsetters come to see and be seen. And Playa El Caleton’s pristine sands and shallow waters make it a big hit with families.

AT A GLANCE

Weather

Average monthly temperature and rainfall for

TEMPERATURE (°C)RAINFALL (mm)

WHEN TO GO

You can pretty much count on blue skies and sunshine in the Dominican Republic. The northern shore packs in a massive 300 sunny days a year, with average temperatures in the high 20s. Things get even hotter between June and October, although you’ll get a few tropical downpours. They’re usually gone in a flash, though. Over in Punta Cana, average temperatures sit at around 29°C, with summer temperatures nudging into the low 30s. For less humidity, November to April is your best bet. Around this time, the evening temperature drops to something in the region of 20°C, although daytime temperatures still hit around 27°C. You do get the odd hurricane between June and September, but don’t worry – the hotel staff know how to ride them out.

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